Boko Haram claims responsibility for abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria: local media

ABUJA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Boko Haram sect on Monday claimed responsibility for the abduction of schoolgirls in the northeast region of Nigeria, local media reported.

The network made the claim in a video, Abuja-based local online newspaper Premium Times reported. However, the video was yet to go viral on the internet as of the time of filing this report.

Since the mid-April abduction, Nigerians had been calling on government to use its power to rescue the kidnapped students.

During a periodic media chat on Sunday, President Goodluck Jonathan had dismissed news that the government was negotiating with the insurgents to secure the release of the abducted school girls in Chibok Town of the northeastern state of Borno.

"The government cannot negotiate with faceless people," said Jonathan, while reassuring parents, guardians and all Nigerians that government would rescue all the abducted girls.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is currently grappling with security challenges, one of which is the insurgency of Boko Haram, a sect which seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution.

Last Thursday, at least 20 people were killed in a blast in the capital Abuja, where the World Economic Forum on Africa will be hosted this week.